29-04-2025
Palestine National Day of Prayer event moving to new venue
Palestine's National Day of Prayer event is moving to a new location this year. The community prayer hosted by Hope Station and led by local church and civic leaders is being held at noon Thursday at the Palestine Senior Activity Center, 200 N. Church St.
In the past, the event has been held outdoors under the pavilions at Reagan Park. After a couple of years of crowds hindered by heavy spring showers and stormy weather, prayer event planners decided to move the event indoors. Rain is in the forecast for Thursday.
Pablo Contre, with Hope Station, said a group of pastoral leaders in Palestine are joining together to lead the hour-long prayer service this year.
'We will do a time of worship and then we'll have people come up and pray over the seven specific areas of influence that the National Day of Prayer committee asks for, but everyone does it a little differently,' he said.
Contre said Subs and Dogs is providing sandwiches for lunch on a first-come, first-served basis.
The event is open to the public.
In Grapeland, the First Christian Memorial, known as the Little White Church, is hosting its annual gathering for National Day of Prayer, also beginning at noon. All are invited to join them in praying for peace, for the nation, churches, education and more. A sandwich lunch will be served afterward in the church's fellowship room. If you don't have time to stay for lunch you can take it with you in a brown bag.
People of all faiths across the nation will join together and pray Thursday in observance of the 74th National Day of Prayer. The annual observance is put together by a National Day of Prayer Task Force that chooses a themed verse. The 2025 theme is 'Pour Out to the God of Hope and Be Filled,' based on Romans 15:13.
The verse is 'Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.'
On the National Day of Prayer, the task force encourages everyone to pray for centers of national influence that include the three branches of government, the military, the media, business, education, the church and families.
The first national call for prayer was made in 1775 when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation. President Harry Truman signed a bill declaring the observance for the National Day of Prayer in 1952. Every president since then has signed a national Day of Prayer proclamation.
Observances will be held in Washington, D.C., at state capitols, county courthouses, city halls, and in schools, businesses, churches and homes.
